Chapter 178
He’s lying.
It was a wedding of entertainment industry workers. The guests had nothing to do but wait until the ceremony started, so they glanced at the elevator, curious to see which celebrities would show up.
“Wow, they’re here.”
“They’re so handsome…”
“Did all seven of them come?”
Some of the guests who pretended not to notice covered their mouths and whispered as the members of Awi got off the elevator.
Someone also sent a message to someone else, who was a reporter with connections. There would be an article about who attended the wedding as guests before the ceremony even began.
“What should we do first?”
“We have to sign the guestbook and give the money envelope.”
While the members were flustered, Ian took the lead and walked ahead.
“Ian is so good at socializing, isn’t he?”
“Are you living your second life?”
The members followed Ian and murmured. As soon as they finished speaking, Ian stopped and looked back.
“But which side should we give the envelope to?”
“That’s a tough one.”
One was a manager who had been with them since their debut, and the other was a company director who had seen them since the casting stage of their trainee days. As the members stood still and pondered, the guests took pictures of Awi.
“How about we split in half?”
“Is that okay?”
The members agreed to Park Seodam’s suggestion and divided into groups of three and four, each giving an envelope to the bride’s side and the groom’s side.
“I’m going to say hello to someone.”
“Okay, hyung.”
Kim Myungjin casually said as he passed by Awi. He went straight to Park Dongsoo, who was greeting the guests. His steps were light, as if he had been waiting for this day.
“Look at how excited Myungjin hyung is.”
“But who is that person standing there? That’s not the Dongsoo hyung we know, right?”
The members stopped and stared at someone in a tuxedo. The boutonniere on his suit pocket confirmed that he was the Park Dongsoo they were looking for.
“Wow…”
“Is that really Dongsoo hyung?”
The life of an entertainment manager was a life of being busier than the celebrities. They always had to wake up earlier than the celebrities and drive them, follow their schedules and carry their stuff. The pay was low compared to the labor intensity.
“Dongsoo hyung looks amazing when he dresses up.”
That’s why they only saw him in casual clothes with a dark face from work. Seeing him groomed and dressed up, they felt like they were looking at a different person.
Just then, Kim Myungjin whispered something in Park Dongsoo’s ear.
“He must be telling him that we can’t sing the congratulatory song.”
“Wow.”
Park Dongsoo smiled bitterly at Kim Myungjin’s words. Seeing his face, the members felt a pang of guilt.
“What should we do? I feel bad.”
“What can we do? It’s already done. We have to take care of the boss first.”
Ian, who made eye contact with Park Dongsoo, pointed to the bride’s waiting room. Park Dongsoo nodded slightly.
The members of Awi, who were waiting for their turn in front of the bride’s waiting room, were surprised once again by the sight of Seo Suryeon in a wedding dress.
“Who is she?”
“Is that really the director?”
Seo Suryeon was not the type to enjoy dressing up either. She usually wore neat slacks and only drew her eyebrows, so the heavy bridal makeup looked unfamiliar.
“Why do you act like you came to a stranger’s wedding?”
“I’m surprised so many times today.”
The members were already warming up their compliments.
Just then, Seo Suryeon, who finished taking pictures with her friends, smiled brightly as she saw the members standing at the entrance.
“Hey, guys!”
“Director.”
Her friends, who came out after taking pictures with the bride, scanned the faces of the members and passed by.
“Wow, amazing.”
“I’m glad we came to the wedding.”
They rolled their feet as they left Awi behind. The members were used to these reactions. They pretended not to notice and approached Seo Suryeon.
“Director, wow, I almost didn’t recognize you.”
“You’re not a human, you’re a goddess.”
“What? You’re too bright, I can’t see you well.”
Seo Suryeon laughed.
“You guys have improved your flattery skills. Is it because you’ve done a lot of fan signings?”
“Wow, really? Are you doubting our sincerity?”The members were shameless until the end.
“We’re short on time, so I’ll take the picture quickly.”
The bride and groom had a lot of guests coming, so they didn’t have much time to take pictures with the members of Awi, a popular idol group. The photographer urged them to hurry up and pose for the camera.
“Hey, Sejun hyung.”
“Hi, guys. Long time no see.”
As they left the bride’s waiting room, they saw Jung Sejun standing there, waiting for someone. He smiled brightly when he saw the Awi members.
“How are you, Taewoong? Are you doing well these days?”
“Hyung, I’m fine now.”
“Really? Are you starting your activities again?”
“Yeah, I have to.”
Jung Sejun was the MC for the wedding. He had cut his hair short for his upcoming military enlistment.
“Sejun.”
Kim Young-hyun came out of the elevator and approached them. Not only Jung Sejun, but half of the members of Black Rush, another group from the same agency, had short hair.
“Baldies!”
“You little…”
“Ow, ow!”
Kim Young-hyun put his arm around Park Jin-hyuk’s shoulder and gave him a headlock. Park Jin-hyuk whined in pain.
“I hope you guys get called baldies by those kids when you enlist.”
“Ah, that’s a bit…”
The next group to follow Awi, Fever, was entering the hall with their manager. They looked nervous as they followed him to the bride’s waiting room.
“You guys are lucky, huh?”
“What do you mean?”
Kim Young-hyun teased the Awi members with a playful smile.
“One of your male fans is in that group. Wow, I would feel so proud if a fan of ours debuted because of us. And that’s a male fan.”
“Really? I didn’t know. Did you guys know?”
Lee Joo-hyuk asked the other members, who looked confused and looked at each other. Only Ian had a meaningful smile on his face and shrugged his shoulders. Lee Joo-hyuk narrowed his eyes at him.
“So, Ian knew…?”
“Who is it, then?”
“What was his name? I’ll send you a link.”
Kim Young-hyun took out his phone from his pocket and searched for something.
‘He must be talking about Lim No-eul.’
He sent them a link via chat. They clicked on it and saw a clip from Fever’s debut Y-app.
(I dreamed of becoming an idol because of Awi seniors. I was a fan since their busking days.)
(Really?)
(I’m a first-generation Awi fan. I even went to their fan meeting.)
(You went to their fan meeting?)
(Yes, I even have a photo card from them.)
“Wow.”
“He went to our fan meeting? How come we didn’t notice him if he’s a male fan?”
“It feels weird.”
The members played the video again with a proud expression.
‘Did he just mention our group and Young-hyun hyung knew about it?’
[No, I think something bad happened. Why else would he know?]
‘What do you mean?’
[You know how bad news travels faster than good news. A junior group mentioning a senior group is not that big of a deal.]
And Jin was right. As they scrolled down, they saw another post that caught their eye.
-BHL Entertainment sues Fever for malicious comments.jpg
The post had screenshots of various communities where people were spreading rumors and false information about Fever.
-Fever’s Lim No-eul is a fan of Awi, did you know that?
└Really?
└He mentioned it on his debut Y-appㅇㅇ
└Ew, is he gay?
-Look at Lim No-eul’s past photos, he was so fatㅇㅇ
└He definitely had plastic surgeryㅋ
└Isn’t it just dieting?
└I saw his pre-debut photos and there’s no way his face would look like that with just dieting.
-I saw a male fan at Awi’s fan meeting
He didn’t wash and made the fans around him frown. He was also rude. Was that Lim No-eul? He had a fierce look in his eyes.
└Welcome to the celebrity world.└This is water testing at its finest. Bring some proof.
└└It was when Awi was promoting We Are Awiㅇㅇ Don’t the fans know?
└Wasn’t Lim No-eul already a trainee by then?
‘He hadn’t come since the first week of his debut.’
Ian frowned. As expected, there was a clarification from the writer under the image, correcting the facts.
“…I guess it wasn’t mentioned in a good way.”
“It’s normal to have some weird people attached to you when you debut.”
Jo Tae-woong shrugged his shoulders.
Especially since they were a rookie group following the footsteps of the top boy group, Awi. It was inevitable that some strange people would cling to them.
Fortunately, thanks to Jo Tae-woong’s precedent, the agency had already announced a strong response to the rumor spreading before the incident got out of hand.
Kim Hyun looked at Ian and asked.
“Hey, Ian, did you know? That he was our fanboy?”
“No-eul’s face looked familiar. I thought I had seen him somewhere.”
Ian dodged the question for now. He remembered that Lim No-eul’s expression didn’t look very bright when he passed by him earlier.
“See, I knew it. You weren’t just being nice to No-eul for no reason.”
“How can you recognize a fan who came once? It’s a talent, a talent.”
Jung Se-jun, who had been listening, changed the topic.
“By the way, you guys are also singing a congratulatory song, right? What are you going to do?”
“We are… not singing a congratulatory song, or rather, we can’t sing one.”
“What? Why?”
The members exchanged glances. They were so excited about the surprise plan that they hadn’t agreed on the details. They were pushing each other to answer. Ian stepped up.
“We have a schedule, so we might have to leave in the middle.”
“What schedule do you have? You still have a long way to go before your album comes out.”
“Um… we have something like that.”
Jung Se-jun looked at the Awi members with suspicious eyes. The members avoided his gaze.
“You guys have something, don’t you?”
“…It’s a secret from Dong-soo hyung.”
“Tell me. I have to know anyway because I’m the MC.”
Jung Se-jun and Kim Young-hyun went to a secluded corner, avoiding the other members of Black Rush.
The Awi members followed him and secretly told him about the congratulatory song project they had discussed with Kim Myung-jin.
“You’re going to pretend to have a schedule and leave, and then sing a surprise congratulatory song at the end of the ceremony?”
“Yeah, how about that? We already talked to our manager hyung about it.”
Kim Young-hyun narrowed one eye. The surprise plan seemed too flimsy because it was hastily made.
“Our final goal is to make Dong-soo hyung cry with emotion. Hyungs, have you ever seen Dong-soo hyung cry? Not just teary-eyed, but sobbing.”
“…No?”
The anxiety disappeared as soon as he heard Park Jin-hyuk’s words. Kim Young-hyun and Jung Se-jun’s eyes sparkled.
“That sounds fun, doesn’t it?”
Jung Se-jun and Kim Young-hyun joined the congratulatory song project.
***
After finishing their discussion, they approached Park Dong-soo, who was greeting the guests.
“Guys.”
“Hyung, why are you so handsome today?”
“We thought we came to the wrong banquet hall when we came in. You looked like someone else.”
Park Dong-soo smiled awkwardly as he received the compliments from the members.
“Dong-soo, are these the kids you’re in charge of?”
Park Dong-soo’s mother, who was wearing a beautiful hanbok, came up to the Awi members.
“Yes, these are the ones I’m taking care of.”
“Hello!”
“We’re very grateful to you!”
The Awi members shouted loudly and bowed their waists. The guests were surprised and looked at them. Park Dong-soo’s face turned red, and his mother laughed.
“Are you some kind of organization? Don’t overdo it.”
Park Dong-soo scolded them, but the Awi members were shameless. They straightened their shoulders and smirked.
Ignoring them, Park Dong-soo casually asked.
“You said you have a schedule, where are you going?”
This time, Jo Tae-woong chimed in.
“Ah, hyung, are you trying to work on your wedding day?”
“We have a schedule, anyway.”
Park Dong-soo narrowed his eyes. Ian and Jo Tae-woong were natural, but the other members were stiff.
“…Really?”
He seemed to have improved his acting skills, but he couldn’t fool Park Dong-soo, who was quick-witted.
‘These guys, they’re lying.’
The congratulatory song project was exposed in less than an hour.